He grew up in Queens, graduated from North Carolina with a degree in economics, won two championship rings with the Rockets, and is now an insightful NBA analyst for TNT.

He is, without a doubt, much more than a straight man to Sir Charles Barkley. The man knows his hoops. And he’s not afraid to speak his mind.

Recently, Lakers superstar Kobe Bryan took some interesting photos for the L.A. Times Magazine wearing all white outfits. The photos were, well, peculiar. In one photo, Bryant wore a white hat and headband, coaxing this description from Smith: “A combination of Tupac and Liberace.”

That’s the kind of wit Smith possesses.

Now Smith is ready to answer questions from Denver Post readers. The former three-point marksman is this week’s subject of “Fan Mail.”

Ask Smith about the Nuggets or about working in the studio with Barkley. Ask him if this is LeBron James’ year to win a title, or if Kobe will wear another ring.

Please send your questions to fanmail@denverpost.com. Please include your first name and were you are from. Questions will be accepted through Wednesday. Smith’s responses will appear at denverpost.com/sports beginning Friday and in Saturday’s edition of The Post.

Television cutaways like to catch Phoenix Suns coach Alvin Gentry. Sitting. Talking to assistants. Arguing with referees. Giving directions to his players.

He is quickly becoming the NBA’s newest coaching star, a man who has turned the fortunes of a franchise completely around.

And yet I’m shaking my head.

Here’s why. It wasn’t long ago when Gentry pretty much had to beg to get a call from the University of Colorado to be considered for its basketball coaching job. And he got no love. Now, he’s leading one of the hottest, toughest, best teams in the NBA.

What might have been if this man, a former CU assistant no less, had been given half a chance to become the next coach at Colorado? The Buffs were in a full-fledged search in 2007 after parting ways with Ricardo Patton.

I’ll tell you who’s not thinking about that.

Gentry.

His team is playing arguably the best basketball in the NBA and has earned a spot in the Western Conference Finals with a statement-making sweep of the four-time champion San Antonio Spurs. His coaching job has pretty much saved the job of Suns general manager, Steve Kerr. He has the run-and-gun Suns playing with grit and defense, two things that were in short supply in years past. And he has the unwavering support – and gratitude – of the biggest stars on the team. Two-time league MVP point guard Steve Nash recently told NBA.com, “We’re not here without Alvin.”

Not bad for a coach that was so easily dismissed by CU.

To review: Gentry, then a man of 27 years of coaching experience at the NBA and college levels, wanted the CU job. Really wanted it. He expressed his interest in every way he possibly could. And despite all of that, CU passed on opportunity after opportunity to at the very least sit down and talk with the man. This is what Gentry said at the time when it was apparent Colorado wasn’t going to give him the time of day.

“I hadn’t heard anything from (CU),” Gentry said. “That’s kind of where it is. It doesn’t matter if I have interest. They don’t have interest in me. Obviously, I’ve showed I have interest. But I haven’t heard from them, so they’re going in another direction.”

That direction was zeroing in on Nuggets assistant and former Metro State coach Mike Dunlap, then Jeff Bzdelik, which resulted in a bunch of losing seasons before we’ve now arrived at Tad Boyle. And I love Tad Boyle.

But what if CU had given Gentry a shot?

He was a graduate assistant at CU in 1977-78 and a full-fledged CU assistant from 1981-85. While on staff, he had a big hand in recruiting Jay Humphries and Matt Bullard, two of the best players in the program’s history. Gentry also assisted Larry Brown at Kansas from 1985-88, where he recruited a tall star player from Cherry Creek named Mark Randall, who went on to play in the NBA.

None of that matters much now. But it is interesting to watch him flourish while CU once again starts over. In Phoenix, Gentry has been a calming, vital influence. There was a point at which the only talk surrounding the Suns was about which star was going to jump ship first, or be traded; and would Kerr, be shown the door?

That’s all gone. In its place is a team that has healed, has come together, and looks like a very real threat to reach the NBA Finals. Through it all, Gentry’s shown the smarts and guile of the game’s best tacticians, and a firm but respectful hand toward his players that the best coaches are able to master. Colorado needed all of those things.

Gentry recruited Grant Hill to Phoenix, and that’s paying dividends. Reserve point guard Goran Dragic has made astronomical strides on Gentry’s watch. Forward Jared Dudley is quickly developing into one of the league’s most versatile, productive, hard-working and energetic players off the bench. Jason Richardson has raised his play to maybe the highest level of his career.

And Amar’e Stoudemire, once so disillusioned by previous Suns head coaches that his departure from the organization seemed inevitable, is now fully on board with the program under Gentry and is back strongly considering a return to the Suns once free agency begins this summer.

“(It’s) his character, his aura,” Stoudemire told the Arizona Republic. “It’s hard not to get along with him. He’s a funny guy. He’s smart. He knows the game of basketball.” Stoudemire added he was finally “under a coach who really wants to teach the game, and that has been great for me.”

There is more to every story, to be sure. I’m sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why CU distanced itself so quickly and coldly from Gentry three years ago. Or maybe there isn’t. Either way, Gentry has landed on his feet. He might have been a smash success at CU. He definitely is a smash success in the Valley of the Sun.

Chris Dempsey: cdempsey@denverpost.com

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Chris Dempsey arrived at The Denver Post in Dec. 2003 after seven years at the Boulder Daily Camera, where he primarily covered the University of Colorado football and men's basketball teams. A University of Colorado-Boulder alumnus, Dempsey covers the Nuggets and also chips in on college sports.